


cheer up, kiddo

by thatmarvelchick



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Friendship, One Shot, Platonic Female/Male Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 08:10:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13876767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatmarvelchick/pseuds/thatmarvelchick
Summary: Pain and suffering pays no mind to gender, age, race, religion, and it definitely does not exclude superheroes. Wanda and Steve are living proof of that, and yet, they're able to see the light in their strife. Together.





	cheer up, kiddo

When your job is to read people’s minds, to delve into the depths of the consciousness of strangers and indulge in their secrets, history, and mental state, you quickly pick up on the ability to be truly empathetic. Even with the slightest prod into someone’s head, Wanda was able to become acutely in tune with someone’s emotions. However, it seemed that no matter how much she learned, she couldn’t become emotionally concrete with  _ herself.  _

And as for Steve, well… He didn’t need telepathic powers to grasp someone’s emotional state. It was like he was just built with a sentimental radar embedded in his the fibers of his whole being. And Wanda, right now, was an enormous red blip on his map. 

Wanda was in her quarters at the Avengers facility, trying to keep her somber weeping as hushed as possible. It was the three year anniversary of Pietro’s death. There was not a day that went by that she didn’t think about him. Sleep occasionally evaded her at night, though not as much these days; but when it did, it was almost always due to the trauma of his death, the pain she shared with him. Each bullet punctuating her pain as it tore through his skin, and yet also through her heart. A feeling forever branded in her memory.

Since joining the Avengers, Wanda had made a habit of swallowing her pain and pushing forward, like any good soldier would. Rather, any good  _ superhero.  _ After all, she was a role model now, a blinding light in the public eye. People wanted to believe that the people who were supposed to save the world - rescuing cats from trees and beating up aliens - were stoic, never once faltering. But that wasn’t true. In fact, in Wanda’s case, it couldn’t be further from the truth. She was an emotional person by nature.

As of now, that part of her that she’d been pushing back for so long finally rebounded. 

 

_ knock  _

_  knock _

_     knock _

 

“Wanda?”

 

Wiping her eyes with her sleeve quickly, she stood from her bed, shuffling over to her door, gazing through the peephole. 

“It’s Steve. I’m, uh,” he gave a light chuckle. “I’m sure you already knew, though."

It took her a moment to find her words. She cleared her throat, her tone hoarse. “Did you need something?”

“Yeah, actually, uh… We’re about to do a briefing downstairs, but that can wait. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, yes.” She said a little too quickly. “I’m fine.”

Silence was the only response from the other side of the door for a few moments.

“Are you sure?”

“...Yes.”

“Wanda. Let’s talk. And I mean face-to-face, not through a door.” 

She inhaled shakily. Undoing the several complex locks on her door, she opened it slowly, pushing her auburn locks out of her face, oily from lack of washing. In the couple of days leading up to the date of her twin’s passing, hygiene hadn’t exactly been her priority. And yet instead of commenting on her haphazard appearance, Steve merely closed the door behind him and, gentle as ever, enveloped her in a gentle hug. 

Wanda clutched the fabric of his shirt, letting out soft sobs into his chest, shoulders trembling from utter anguish. Steve simply stood in place, softly rubbing and patting her upper back, cooing and shushing her like a mother would to an upset child. 

Once she felt her eyes were too raw to expel any more tears, she sharply sniffed, reeling mucus back into her nose, wiping her eyes and nose with her sleeve. “I’m sorry,” She choked out in a meek mumble. 

“Hey, it’s okay. Come sit.” He led her over to the couches and chairs in the living room of her suite, sitting across from her on one of the couches. “Wanna talk about it?”

Rubbing her forehead sheepishly, gave a curt nod, trying to stabilize her breathing. 

“It’s okay. Take your time.”

She glanced at Steve, giving him a half-hearted smile. With a slow exhale, she cleared her throat and clasped her hands neatly, though still avoided eye contact. Instead, she focused down at her woollen socks. “Well, um… Today’s the anniversary of Pietro’s death.” 

Out of the corner of her eye, she believed to see Steve flinch slightly. “Now, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while.” His tone was low, solemn. “I’m sorry, Wanda. I know it’s hard.”

Scarlet witch furrowed her brows, digging her fingernails into her palms to keep herself to curb the build of tears in her eyes. “Yes. Very.” she looked up at the man across from her, cheeks burning, voice cracking in pain. “I miss him so much."

He reached over, gently grasping her hand. “I know what that’s like. Not to the same extent as yours, but I do understand. And let me just say, you are so brave for powering through it. I’m proud of you and your progress.”

With an aggrieved sigh, she nodded once more. “It doesn’t get any easier as the days go by. Just more easily contained & managed.”

Steve reeled his hand back to push it through his hair, then let it fall over his knee with a gentle sigh. “Yeah. Couldn’t have said it better myself. I feel… I feel the same way about Bucky.”

After a moment, he leaned forward again. “Did Pietro have any bad habits that were your pet peeves?”

Wanda looked up at him, quite visibly puzzled. “Huh?”

Steve gave a lighthearted half-smile. “Like, did he ever do anything that drove you up the wall? Damn, I remember Buck sure did.”

Wanda paused, deep in thought as she searched her mind for those precious memories of her youth spent in Sokovia with Pietro.

 

_ “Wanda! Следуй за мной!”  _

_ Shortly after their fourteenth birthdays, Pietro raced through the crowded streets of the marketplace, stolen bag of mystery goods in one hand and Wanda’s hand in the other. They had brought enough money for a few little necessities, but count on Pietro to have sticky fingers. Even when he wasn’t superpowered, though, he was still wicked fast. _

_ “Pietro! Good God, if you get us into trouble again-”  _

_ “Hahaha! Can’t get in trouble if you don’t get caught!” _

 

She smiled sadly. “Yeah. When we were younger and didn’t have a lot of money, he’d always steal things. It made me crazy because he was so blase about it. He thought he could smooth-talk his way out of anything.”

 

_ “Sir, I paid for those items fair and square.” As a portly man clad in a police vest searched the contents of the bag that Pietro had in his hand not a moment before, Pietro tossed a wink Wanda’s way. “I even have the receipt to prove it.” _

_ “Yeah? Let’s see it then.” the officer said gruffly. _

_ To Wanda’s surprise, Pietro pulled out a crinkly yellow rectangle from his pants pocket. Wanda and the officer with equally taken aback, but the officer just didn’t seem to show it as much. Snatching the receipt from the teenager’s hand, he scanned it quickly, then looked back at Pietro. He skeptically handed both the receipt and the bag back over to Pietro, still clearly unconvinced. “Fine. Just stop acting like hooligans.” _

 

“It was fine, though, because 9 times out of 10 he’d get away with it… But that made me even more annoyed. But he always did it for me.”

 

_ “Идиот!” Wanda slapped him over his head as soon as they were alone. “Do you not realize how close you were to being caught? And where did you get this?” She tore the receipt from his hand, reading it quickly.  _

_ “I forged it myself,” Pietro said matter-of-factly. “Sure fooled you, didn’t I?” He gave his sister a shit-eating grin, to which she just gave him another disparaging look.  _

_ “How did you even do that?” She mumbled, handing it back to him. He shrugged; “Just used a template and printed it at the public library. You’re welcome.” He handed her the bag. With a roll of her eyes and a disapproving shake of her head, she examined the contents of the bag to see what he went through all that trouble for.  _

_ “It’s…” _

_ “Those books that you’ve been wanting, yeah. Thank me later.” _

 

“Sounds like he was a real handful,” Steve laughed whole-heartedly, sitting back and crossing his arms, quite amused. Even Wanda was giggling softly. 

“Yes, definitely so. He also had a few other ones… Um, he picked his nose, and thought he was sneaky about it.” 

“He ever tell you a scary movie ain’t scary and when he took you to see it, it was mortifying?”

“Yes, all the time!” Wanda exclaimed with a groan, remembering the countless times Pietro had tricked her into his little cons.

Steve let out another hearty laugh. “Bucky was the same way. Not just with movies, but with rollercoasters and dances, too. And women.”

 

_ “C’mon, Steve, how was I supposed to know that she was engaged!” Bucky chased after Steve as they exited a diner hurriedly, Bucky’s girlfriend in tow. While Steve was less than happy, Bucky was absolutely beside himself with laughter.  _

_ “Glad to see one of us had a good time,” Steve grumbled, sitting on the curb dejectedly, waiting for a cab to stroll down along the streets in the year 1940.  _

_ Bucky sat down beside him, waving his girlfriend at the time to go sit on one of the nearby benches. He wrapped an arm around his best friend’s shoulders, trying to contain his wheezing laughter. “Look, man, I’m gonna be honest with you, I did know she was engaged. What I didn’t know was that her fiance was followin’ her around. For that, I’m sorry. But I just reeeaaallly wanted that double-date discount!” He wheezed, falling into another fit of laughs.  _

_ Steve couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. “Yeah, those half-priced steaks were pretty good. But, Jesus, at what cost? Her fiance stormed in and gave me a shiner.” _

_ Bucky leaned back, examining the developing mark on Steve’s cheek. “Huh. Yeah, that’s gonna hurt you in the morning.” He grinned devilishly. “You still love me?” _

_ “I’ll let you know ‘in the morning’, jerk,” Steve tried to hide his smile, to which Bucky tucked his head under his arm, giving him a noogie, despite Steve’s sudden complaints.  _

_ “Whatever, punk.” _

 

A flurry of giggle passed Wanda’s lips as she listened to Steve’s story, feeling significantly more calm than she had been 15 minutes ago. “God, he really made you do that for  _ steak?” _

“Yeah. I knew something was up when I met her and saw how pretty she was, and how awkward Buck was acting about it all,” Steve tutted, shaking his head in disbelief. “But he really didn’t mean for me to get hurt. Little shit was just a cheapskate,” He laughed lightly, and in turn, so did Wanda.

A few moments after their giggles faded into comfortable silence, Wanda spoke up, voice clearer and more stable. “Steve, thank you. I needed this.”   
  
He gave a little nod. “Oh, yeah. Don’t even mention it. I know how hard this can be, and I just… I just wanna let you know that you’re never alone. Not as long as I’m around, you’re not.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t sweat it, kiddo.”

**Author's Note:**

> 'bout time i lived up to my username SMH
> 
> enjoy this lil one-shot of platonic steve and wanda being sappy together


End file.
